


Saving the Spring Dance

by vanilla107



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Crushes, F/F, Friends to Lovers, School Dance, mermista calms her down, perfuma is a stressed mess, secret but not so secret crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28633323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanilla107/pseuds/vanilla107
Summary: Perfuma is ecstatic that she got to plan the Spring Dance for her school this year but when a typo risks the dance failing, she calls up the one person who she knows will calm her down.Mermista.
Relationships: Mermista/Perfuma (She-Ra)
Kudos: 2





	Saving the Spring Dance

Perfuma grinned as she stretched her arms over her head, one of the rare days where school work hadn’t completely swamped her week.

“Today is the day! The Spring Dance!” she squealed as she hopped out of bed. She yawned before walking to the bathroom and reemerging ten minutes later, her hair brushed, face washed, teeth clean and flopped onto her bed before checking her phone. 

She hummed happily as she scrolled through her notifications, her smile getting wider and wider as she saw the flood of messages from the night before on the Spring Dance group chat.

**Spring Dance (whooooo!!)**

**Adora @ 8:09 PM**

So excited for the Spring Dance tomorrow! 

**Bow @ 8:10 PM**

Whoooo! The photos are going to look great!

**Entrapta @ 8:12 PM**

Will there be tiny food?

**Scorpia @ 8:12 PM**

Yep! My family friends are the caterers remember? There will be plenty!

**Entrapta @ 8:13 PM**

YAYYYYYYY!! TINY FOOD!

**Double Trouble @ 8:13 PM**

What time does this dance start again?

**Sea Hawk @ 8:13 PM**

According to the poster at 4 pm till 8 pm.

**Catra @ 8:14 PM**

4...in the afternoon?? Are you sure that’s the right time?

**Scorpia @ 8:14 PM**

Yep! Here’s the poster!

-SpringDance.jpeg

Perfuma’s heart dropped straight to her stomach as she opened the file and saw that the time was indeed, 4 in the afternoon.

“No...nononononono!” she screamed frantically, falling off her bed in the process with a thud. “The dance is only supposed to start at seven! Ugh, how did I miss this mistake? That’s three hours too early!”

She scrambled off the floor and grabbed her planner, flipping through the pages wildly. 

“Okay, okay...phone the caterers, decor and the set up crew to see if they can reschedule...that shouldn’t be too hard!” she said to herself, trying to be optimistic as she found the page with all the contact details.

* * *

Two calls later, Perfuma was feeling hopeless. The caterers had overbooked and had a wedding party to cater for and could only start making the food at four and the storage for the decorations had burned down the night before in some freak firework accident. She had gotten a refund from them but that still left her with no decorations or food. 

She raised her phone to her ear, the set up crew’s number dialing. 

“Hello, Set Up Crew at your service!” a chirpy voice said and Perfuma clenched her one free hand, hoping and praying that she could reschedule.

“Hi, this is Perfuma. I booked for you to setup for the Spring Dance in the botanical gardens at seven this evening.”

“Yes ma’am, we have you booked in that time slot. Is there a problem?”

“Is it possible to change the time? To four this afternoon?”

“Hmmm...we don’t usually reschedule on such short notice...but since you’re our only event today, there’s no problem. We’ll be there at four.

“Thank you so much! Bye!” 

Perfuma hung up and deflated. All she needed to do was organize food and decor for the dance. 

A dance that was less than seven hours away.

“Oh, how could I have overlooked that typo!” she groaned and panic settled in her veins once more. “Okay calm down...just breathe. You just need to organize food and decorations. Now who can help you?”

She hovered over her contacts before falling onto the one person she knew she could call on for help. She opened up the chat and typed out the message before hitting send.

**Perfuma @ 8:45 am**

Hey Mermista. I need your help. It’s an emergency!

* * *

Ten minutes later, Mermista rang Perfuma’s doorbell and waited before the door swung open, almost hitting her in the face.

“Woah, Perfuma! What’s-?”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence as she was dragged into the house, the door closing loudly behind her.

The two of them had been friends for the last four years, meeting in high school and then being partnered together for science practicals because of seating arrangements. To outsiders they were an odd friendship, with Mermista being the serious one but between the two of them she was the goofiest person Perfuma knew. Her obsession with murder mysteries and superheros hadn’t gone unnoticed and Perfuma was grateful that Mermista felt comfortable to show that side to her. Perfuma would be lying if she hadn’t developed teeny tiny feelings for her friend but those feelings were out the window with her mind only focused on the dance.

“Look, there was a typo on the poster and now the dance is at four instead of seven and I could really use your help-” Perfuma began, her talking too fast for the other girl to follow.

“Perfuma! Relax! Did you miss your morning ritual?” Mermista yelled and the blonde fell silent, a blush rising to her cheeks.

The usually calm girl _had_ missed her morning ritual and now she was stressed and feeling overwhelmed. The Spring Formal was her favourite dance of the school year and when she had been voted in to be in charge of it, she was ecstatic.

Now, her plans were unraveling in front of her very eyes.

“I’m just...” she trailed off, her vision blurring with tears and she sat down on the couch and buried her face into her hands.

“This dance was going to be perfect Mermista, and now it’s not! All because of a stupid typo and I can’t suddenly tell everyone that the time has changed! That will look like bad planning on my part and even if I did change the time, the caterers overbooked and the decorations storage burnt down last night!”

She sobbed loudly and felt a hand on her shoulder and it giving her a gentle squeeze.

“Okay, that...that is some really bad luck-”

“I _know!_ Did I miss something and today is national ‘Ruin the Spring Dance’ day?” she asked, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation before taking one of the pillows and screaming into it.

“I can’t believe this flew over my head!” she yelled into the pillow, her sounds muffled and Mermista could barely make out what she was saying.

“I know this seems impossible but we can still fix this,” Mermista said and Perfuma looked up at her from the pillow, panic rising in her throat once more, her breathing unsteady. 

“How? There’s a million things to do and I only have a few hours and I-”

Perfuma did not expect the stinging sensation on her cheek and she lifted a hand to where Mermista had slapped her.

“Perfuma! Get yourself together! You are the most capable person to plan this dance and you have me helping you!”

“I...I don’t know…” she mumbled softly.

“You need to be way more enthusiastic! Where’s the positive Perfuma I know?”

“She’s feeling like a failure.”

“Perfuma you are only a failure if you haven’t even tried. Are you a failure?”

“No...I managed to get the set up crew to reschedule.”

“So we’re in agreement! We only have a few hours to fix this and every second counts. Now, are you ready to pull off the most amazing Spring Dance or not?”

“O-Okay...Let’s do this!” she said, her voice sounding a little more hopeful.

“Good, because I know just the people to get for catering!”

* * *

A few hours later, Perfuma and Mermista stared at the sight before them.

The botanical garden looked beautiful, with the tables full of snacks, various juices, sodas and cakes. There were fairy lights wrapped around the tree trunks and long pieces of silver tinsel hanging from the branches. The makeshift dance floor was in place, the DJ was already playing a couple throwback songs and there was a photo booth on the far side of the area for anyone to take photos during the dance. The Spring Dance committee was finishing off with the last few decorations. 

“I know it’s still light right now but once it gets a little darker, the lights will look beautiful. Good thinking on the tinsel and fairy lights! I think they look way better than streamers and balloons,” Mermista smiled as she looked at the checklist one more time. “We just need to wait for everyone to arrive. We did it!”

Perfuma was quiet and walked away from Mermista to a bridge that overlooked a pond. Mermista followed her, worry in the pit of her stomach.

“Perfuma...what’s wrong? We managed to save the dance. Aren’t you happy?”

“I...I’m just a little overwhelmed. You know I skipped my meditation ritual this morning and I’ve been this ball of stress the entire day. I’m happy but...” she trailed off before tears began to fall down her cheeks and she began to cry, “I’m not sad I swear. I’ve just been bottling this up since this morning and I’m feeling a lot of emotions.”

Mermista relaxed and put her arms around the girl, who cried into her shoulder.

“I’m happy you’re okay. You worried me for a second,” she said. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Perfuma asked, her voice croaky from crying.

“You know you can.”

“Was the slap this morning really necessary?” she murmured as she lifted her head off of Mermista’s shoulder and the girl blushed.

“Honestly, you were scaring me and I’m pretty sure if you kept hyperventilating, you would’ve fainted,” she said as she wiped Perfuma’s tears away.

“I was hyperventilating?” the blonde asked in surprise.

“Yeah...you seriously scared me and I panicked. I’m sorry I hurt you. I guess all those murder mystery novels are rubbing off on me when the detective slaps the hysterical woman to get her to calm down.” 

Perfuma let out a giggle before relaxing into Mermista’s arms once more.

“We did it. We really did it,” she sighed, “I never would’ve been able to pull this off without you.”

“Hey, you know I’m always happy to help you. You seem exhausted though...”

“I’ll be fine-”

She broke off and squealed with laughter as Mermista poked her sides, tickling her.

“C’mon Perfuma! Let’s see some energy!” Mermista grinned and Perfuma swatted her hands away before tickling the girl back, their laughter echoing the garden. 

Perfuma’s back hit the railing of the bridge, Mermista tickling her waist and the girl started to lose her balance.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Perfuma fell over the railing, felt gravity pull her down and Mermista’s desperate attempt to hold onto the girl as she fell was in vain, as they both plunged into the cold pond.

Perfuma’s first instincts were to swim up for air but for the first time that day, she felt calm. The noise from the outside was muffled out, her previously warm skin was soothed by the cool water and when she opened her eyes, she saw the one person who meant the world to her.

Mermista’s hair was out of its elegant bun, pieces of hair framing around her face and her dress caught the sunlight streaming through the pond, the blue and green chiffon making it seem like she was a mermaid that lived in the pond.

Mermista seemed to have the same idea by floating in the water and gingerly reached out to grab Perfuma’s hand. They smiled at each other before swimming to the surface, Mermista’s head underneath a giant lilypad. 

“Well...our dresses are wet,” Mermista laughed but Perfuma wasn’t focusing on their dresses. 

Instead, she leaned in and caught the unsuspecting girl’s lips with her own, Mermista making a noise of surprise from the back of her throat before relaxing almost instantly and bringing her hands to Perfuma’s waist. 

Time was lost between the two of them as they kissed, the stress from the day dissipating completely. Mermista broke off the kiss, her cheeks burning despite being in the pond and looked at the girl before her.

“That...was unexpected,” she murmured and Perfuma tucked some of her hair behind her ear, her cheeks a light shade of pink.

“Sorry...I know I should’ve asked first and...I was feeling a lot of emotions.”

The top of Perfuma’s hair was already dry and slightly poofy with some of the flowers from her flower crown were drooping a little. She was close enough to see the individual freckles on the flower girl’s face and her warm honey skin was glowing from the sun. Mermista felt her heart speed up as the blonde reached out and touched her cheek.

“If...If you don’t want a relationship then-”

“No, I do. I’ve wanted this for a long time and I...should probably stop talking,” Mermista said quickly and blushed, the other girl giggling at her response.

You look radiant Perfuma,” she whispered.

“I’m sure we’ll look more radiant once we get out of this pond and dry ourselves off. There’s still enough time for us to go back home, get cleaned up and change our dresses and get back before the dance starts,” Perfuma said smelling her hair and wrinkling her nose. 

“Okay, let’s go.”

* * *

The couple got back to the dance with a few minutes to spare, making sure everything was in its place before everyone started to arrive. 

“We really did it,” Perfuma squealed and Mermista grinned as the girl gave her a kiss on the cheek. 

Before Mermista could respond, there was a squeal of delight from behind them.

“Tiny food!” Entrapta yelled and ran over to the buffet table and picked up a few pastries before heading over to the girls.

“Wow, the party hasn’t even started yet and I can tell it’s already going to be amazing! In fact, there is an 80% chance of rain this evening so good thinking on an afternoon party Perfuma! Oh is that a photo booth-?” the girl ran towards it as more people began to enter the clearing. 

Perfuma spotted Adora and Catra hand in hand as well as Glimmer, Scorpia and Bow joking and laughing with each other as they came through the entrance.

“Brightmoon High are you guys ready to party?” the DJ yelled into the microphone and soon the dance floor was flooded with bodies dancing to the beat.

“Hey...is something going on between Perfuma and Mermista?” Glimmer asked while dancing next to Adora, who turned her head and spotted the couple on the sidelines, giggling and holding hands.

“I’m not saying that I called it but...I totally called it,” Catra smirked as Mermista spun Perfuma before catching her in a dip. 

“They’ve been friends for a long time. I would’ve been disappointed if they didn’t get together,” Double Trouble said with a grin as they joined the conversation.

Perfuma looked at the sight of the dance. The one she planned, nearly messed up and fixed with her new girlfriend. 

She sighed as she planted another kiss on Mermista’s cheek before looking at the sun beginning to set over the gardens.

“Thank you Mermista,” she whispered and Mermista looked up at her.

“Anything for my girlfriend,” she said with a smile before leading her to the dance floor to dance the night away.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely people!
> 
> I wrote this fic last year for the Merfuma: A Waterlily zine! This was a collaboration with @bbbijou, so definitely check out her art on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram! With the zine successfully being completed, I can now post it here! I hope you all enjoy it and if you like it, consider leaving a comment or a kudo!
> 
> Stay safe!  
> vanilla107  
> xoxo


End file.
